Schoolboy’s death sparks protests

LAHORE - Angry protesters blocked the Grand Trunk (GT) Road for a few hours, shortly after a 13-year-old schoolboy was crushed to death by a passenger bus in the Shahdara area, police said on Thursday. The 6th class student identified as Mohsin Rasool riding a motorcycle was on his way home when a recklessly-driven van rammed him on the GT Road. As the schoolboy fell on the road, a bus of Lahore Transport Company ran over him resulting in on-the-spot, according to eyewitnesses. The bus driver managed to escape from the crime scene. Dozens of people gathered at the crime scene and staged strong protest demonstration. The protesters blocked the road and disrupted the traffic flow on the busy road for a few hours. Later, police contingents reached the spot and managed to disperse the protesters after holding a series of negotiations with them. Police officers assured the protesters that the bus driver would be arrested and brought to justice. The police handed over the body to the deceased’s after fulfilling legal formalities. A case has also been registered against the bus driver on the complaint of Iftikhar Ahmed, father of the boy. Further investigation are underway. Girl burnt alive: A four-year-old girl was burnt alive when fire erupted in the basement of a rented house in the Gulshan-e-Ravi area on Thursday, police and rescue workers said. The family told the police that the fire broke out in the basement because of gas leakage. Police said that a manual worker, Israr Ahmed, was residing in the basement of a house (784/A-Block) along with his family on rent. As the housewife lit the stove for cooking in the afternoon, all of a sudden huge fire erupted in the basement because of gas leakage. As a result, four-year-old Bushra, who was sleeping in the same room, sustained serious burns and died on the spot. Further investigation was underway.